


Words

by inkandwords



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Other, atsu fics, i have so many feelings about pining!aho, in honor of s.3, pining!aho, someone help me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 03:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3158786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkandwords/pseuds/inkandwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Aomine wonders why real life couldn't work like those scripts Kise's so focused on. It would be so much easier than having to figure out his own lines all by himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words

**Author's Note:**

> A little late, but I wanted to post something to commemorate the start of season 3. It started off so much fluffier in my head, but I have a penchant for angst and pining!aho gives me life. Fluffy ending though. Hopefully that makes up for it. haha Inspired by [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD1Md4sr8Pg&spfreload=10).

The last thing Aomine expects when he comes home is Satsuki parked on his couch, watching one of her television dramas like she lives there. Not that it isn't normal for Satsuki to come over unannounced, and usually Aomine doesn't mind because that means there's food, even if Satsuki's the one that made it. But tonight he's tired and the last thing he needs is to entertain his best friend when all he wants to do is sleep. 

"Don't you have a t.v. at your place?" he grumbles as he walks past her and into his bedroom. He doesn't bother closing the door because anything he's got to show, she's already seen, even if most of the time, the naked displays are usually unsolicited and make her exasperated enough to fling the nearest thing at him in huffy embarrassment. "You'd think I'd get a break or something, especially since I just saw you at practice."

"My cable's out and I didn't want to miss the new episode of this show I've really gotten into!" she calls out after him. He should have guessed. The only one Aomine knows who watches those dumb dramas as religiously as Satsuki is Kise, but Kise knows better than to show up at his house and take over his big screen. Satsuki knows better, too, but it seems she's less inclined to care about exactly what makes Aomine roll his eyes. "OH MY GOD!"

Aomine runs out into the living room, half afraid that Satsuki's broken something, and stops short when he catches a familiar face on the screen. "You've gotta be kidding me. Since when?"

"He didn't tell you about it?" Satsuki asks and turns up the volume. 

The camera zooms in on Kise's face, the angle shadowing him, and Aomine wonders for a second if he's always been that attractive. He quickly pushes the thought out of his head because one, it's Kise and two, they're friends and friends don't look at each other that way. At least, that's what he's been trying to tell himself since high school. "Nah. He's been skipping out on the one-on-ones more than usual, but I thought he'd gotten more modeling gigs. I didn't know about the acting thing." A part of him wonders why Kise hasn't said anything about his new project, but he supposes it's probably his fault for always brushing it aside whenever Kise brings it up. "He didn't mention anything to you?"

"I've been busy with drawing up the new training schedules for the national team," she says, a small pout materializing. "I wish he would've told me, though. I wonder if I can visit him on set?"

"Beats me. Scoot over, will ya?" Aomine plops down on the couch and grabs the remote control. "You can watch this later. There's a game on."

* * *

 

 

"Aominecchi! What are you doing here?" 

Though Kise's agency isn't anywhere near the stadium, Aomine figures twisting the truth a bit might be less embarrassing than having to admit he's missed the one-on-ones that had become few and far between now that Kise's career is taking up more of his time. He shrugs and pushes off the brick facade of the building he's leaning on, basketball tucked underneath his arm and duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "Your assistant said you were still here, so I figured I'd swing by."

"Why didn't you just call me yourself?"

"Tried, but you weren't picking up your cell."

Kise fishes his phone out of his pocket, his expression faltering when he realizes the number of missed calls he's gotten from Aomine. He offers an apologetic smile and instantly, Aomine is embarrassed about the whole thing and half wishes he'd gone home instead of out of his way to intercept Kise from the agency. "Sorry about that. I must have gotten the calls during the meeting and Kiyoko-san really hates it when my phone goes off while we're discussing work. Did something happen?" he asks, not without genuine concern, which makes Aomine feel guilty for the barrage of calls. 

"Nah, just wanted to play some ball, but if you're busy, it's not a big deal."

"Ah, I'm sorry! I would, but they just gave me the new script for the episode we're shooting day after tomorrow and I really need to work on my lines." Aomine's about to cut his losses and tell Kise it's all right, they can do it another time, when Kise brightens and continues before Aomine has the chance to speak. "You wouldn't wanna help me, would you?"

"Hah? What do you mean? Help you read?" Aomine chuckles and raises a brow. "And they say I'm the idiot."

"Mooooh, Aominecchi's so cruel! That's not what I meant, baka! My sister's usually the one that helps me go over my lines when Ayato can't help me and they're both busy tonight."

"Don't you have two?"

Kise looks confused for a second. "Two what?"

"Sisters?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Rika's getting married and she's in Kyoto busy with the wedding plans. I still can't believe my sister's getting hitched!" Kise laughs and waves a hand in the air, something he does when he gets off topic. "But anyway, I don't have anyone to run lines with and I could really use the help."

Aomine considers this for a moment before he nods, figuring since he's already there, there's no point in having made the trip for nothing. "I guess I can help. On one condition though," he says, pausing when Kise's smile falters. "You gotta buy me dinner."

"Deal! But if you wanted to have a dinner date with me, you should have just said so, Aominecchi." Kise's teasing, but Aomine feels the heat rise up his nape anyway.

"Shut up, idiot. I wouldn't date you even if you paid me."

* * *

 

Kise's apartment is larger than Aomine's, the furniture matching the decor right down to the colors of the paintings that hung on the walls. He shouldn't be surprised; Kise's always been into things like interior design almost as much as he's into fashion. As long as Aomine doesn't have to hear about how he came up with the colors of his accent walls, he doesn't mind the place too much; especially since it's a considerable step up from his own apartment, which consists of a few pieces of furniture and white walls whose only decorations are framed autographs Aomine's collected over the years.

"Just make yourself at h--" Kise sets the script on the coffee table, pausing when Aomine plops on the couch and turns on the television without much prompting. "--ome. That didn't take long, did it?" He shakes his head, but Aomine catches the familiar smile before Kise heads into the kitchen. "Did you want something to drink before we start?"

"Pocari Sweat if you've got it. Otherwise, whatever you're having." He's already got the basketball game on, momentarily forgetting that Kise's asked him over for a reason and it isn't to sit there and watch the game. "Is the t.v. new? This wasn't here the last time I was over."

"Yeah, it's only a week old, actually! Just got my first paycheck from the show and I wanted to splurge a little," Kise says as he arranges the drinks on the coffee table. He takes a seat next to Aomine and reaches for the script, opening it up a few pages in. "Did you wanna start? This might take a little while."

"Yeah, just gimme a minute," Aomine says absently, his eyes glued to the screen as one of the players fakes a pass and drives down the line to dunk the ball. "Yeah! That's how you do it!" The minute soon turns into thirty and an hour later, they're still in the same positions on the couch. Except this time, Kise's yelling at the game with him, cheering and groaning about the exact same things just like they used to. 

Kise glances at the clock during one of the time outs and, without warning, smacks Aomine's shoulder. "Baka Aominecchi! Look what time it is!" he whines, palming his face as he shakes his head. "If I forget my lines during the taping, I'm going to blame it all on you!"

"Hey, I didn't hear you complaining when you were screaming at the screen, dumbass." Aomine laughs and downs the rest of his drink, the third beer he's had since he got there. "But okay, okay. Jeez! Just trying to relax and watch a little ball since you're too busy to actually play nowadays."

"I told you I would if I didn't have to run lines! Aominecchi's so mean!" Kise's lips jut out in his signature pout. 

"You didn't even tell me about the acting gig," Aomine starts before he catches himself. He sounds like he's complaining and really, since when has Kise ever told him about any of his projects anyway? He tries to brush it off, but Kise's expression falters and Aomine knows he's pushed a button.

"I'm sorry. I meant to, really I did. But you always act like this stuff's not important or you're not interested in them, so I thought I'd just bore you with the details. How'd you find out about it anyhow?"

"Satsuki."

"Ah, I should've known." Kise's smile is still apologetic, though there's a softness to it now, a pensiveness that wasn't there a moment before. "Well, I'm sorry for not telling you anyway."

"Don't worry about it," Aomine says, now slightly embarrassed that he even brought it up in the first place. "So, what exactly do I have to do with the script thing?"

* * *

 

Aomine ends up staying over because Kise insisted it was too late to go all the way back to his house. Besides, Kise says, there's a perfectly good bed in the spare room.  It's not the first time he's crashed at Kise's place, but somehow the bed isn't as comfortable as he's used to and eventually, he ends up stumbling half asleep down the hall into Kise's room instead. It should have been weird laying next to him, should have felt off somehow that he wanted to sleep in Kise's bed with Kise in it. But it didn't. And eventually, he ends up falling asleep to Kise's even breaths; slow, steady, and oddly comforting.

* * *

 

The next morning, Kise's gone by the time he wakes and when Aomine does see him again, nobody brings it up, nobody talks about it. 

Thinking about it, though, that's a whole other story. Aomine should have learned by then that thinking only makes things worse.

* * *

 

Another session a few nights later starts off better than the last. A couple of hours in, Aomine's sitting on the couch while Kise paces across from him, script folded back in his hand. The coffee table has been moved to the side away from Kise, who accidentally kicked it in the midst of his scene. Aomine has been to a few of Kise's shoots, has seen him in action while he's in front of the cameras, in his comfort zone, but never like this. Here, Kise is a whole other thing; an element Aomine has never seen. And he finds that he can't seem to look away. 

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" Kise asks, running his hand through his hair in clear exasperation. There's a break in his voice, croaked out, his eyes filling with tears in true Kise Ryouta fashion. His face is carefully controlled, the emotion something he's brought out of nowhere in a second's notice. "You think they'll let you get away, just like that? No way. Now they know your face."

"What can I do? You know they'll come after me, no matter where I go," Aomine recites, his voice lacking Kise's panicked octave. 

Waving a hand to stop him, Kise stops pacing and turns toward Aomine with an annoyed huff. "Aominecchi! You're going to have to do better than that! Try it again, but with more feeling."

Aomine chuckles and leans back on the couch. Kise's flair for theatrics seems to have worsened with his television breakthrough, though, in all honesty, Aomine's never really minded it as much as he gripes on about. "Hey, it's not like I'm the one that's gonna be on t.v., right? I'm just supposed to read back to you so you're not talking to yourself."

"You're not much help if you're going to sound like a robot the entire time! How am I supposed to get my juices going if you're sitting there like a boring lump? Can't you at least try to get into it a little?" Kise's voice takes on a keening whine, something Aomine's heard many times before, something that for whatever reason, gets under his skin and makes it difficult to say no. 

When it's clear Kise isn't going to budge, Aomine exaggerates a sigh and slowly stands. He grasps the script in his hand and clears his throat. "What can I do, huh?" he asks, pushing out the words in a low growl. "You know they'll come after me; they'll always come after me no matter where I go." 

Blinking in surprise, Kise's jaw falls slack for a moment before he shakes his head and resumes reading from the script again. "This is your fault. And now you've brought me into it."

"How?" Aomine fights a chuckle with how over-dramatic the lines sound, but the laughter dies in his throat when Kise steps closer, one foot in front of the other until he's standing close enough that Aomine can smell the scent of his cologne. He gulps.

"Because," Kise breathes, his gaze dipping briefly so that his lashes brush against his pale skin. Aomine knows what's coming after this, knows the action the closes that scene and for the first time since they start reading, he's nervous. "I could never let anything happen to you."

Kise leans close, his lips parting, breath warm and drawing Aomine in. He takes the bait, but just as he's about to close that final inch of space, Kise pulls away, cheeks flushed and laughter bubbling with renewed excitement. "Yes! That was fantastic! The ad-lib made it sound better, I think. More real." The laughter pauses only long enough for Kise to shake his head at Aomine in awe and then the thousand-watt smile returns. "I thought for sure we wouldn't be able to get this right, but I've gotta say, you're not half bad, Aominecchi. Pretty good, even."

Without missing a beat, Kise's chatter continues while he takes a seat and flips through different parts of the script. Aomine's glad he's busy, too preoccupied with the notes he's made to notice the way Aomine's staring at him, wondering if maybe, just maybe, it might have been nice had Kise not pulled away.

* * *

 

Sometimes Aomine wonders why real life couldn't work like those scripts Kise's focused on these days. It would be so much easier than having to figure out his own lines all by himself.

* * *

 

A few weeks pass before Kise asks him to read lines again. It isn't as though he expects to be asked; Kise probably has other people to run lines with; people who are more capable with that kind of stuff than he is. Besides, it's not like he hasn't seen Kise at all. In fact, it seems Kise has been more open about his schedule and makes it a point to tell Aomine when he has longer breaks just in case Aomine happens to be in the neighborhood. 

Aomine remembers Kise faltering over the casual invite the first time it happens; like they haven't gotten lunch together a million times before, like they haven't hung out by themselves without their other friends. It strikes Aomine as odd, but he writes it off as Kise being Kise and something from work being the culprit. He doesn't think to ask because one, he never does, and two, if Kise wanted him to know, he would have told him. 

He doesn't read into it, not at first, but being without something and then having it all the time messes with a guy's head. It isn't long before he begins to look at Kise in that way that isn't entirely friendzone appropriate and he's doing it more and more without realizing it until it's too late. 

"Do I have something on my face?"

"Huh?" Aomine blinks once as he processes Kise's question. He's a little embarrassed at having been caught staring, but hell would freeze over before he ever admits to it.

"My face. Is there something on it?" Kise pulls his phone and checks his reflection on the mirrored surface of the case. Aomine holds back a snort. Only Kise would check himself out in the middle of lunch.

"I still can't believe you have a fucking mirror as your phone case. I swear you look at yourself more than most girls I know." Aomine chuckles, hoping to change the subject to something not directed at self-embarrassment. Besides, Kise always did like talking about himself.

"I only looked because you were looking! Stupid Aominecchi." Kise's brows furrow as he gives himself a good once-over before turning the mirror over when he's finally satisfied. "There's nothing on my face, baka."

"I could've told you that, idiot."

"Then why didn't you? I thought I had a zit or something. I wouldn't put it past you to sit there and laugh instead of telling me I have a crater on my face."

"Don't worry. I'm sure with the amount of makeup crap you wear, the zit would never have a chance."

"Thanks, that's a real ego booster," Kise mutters between bites. "I was going to ask you to run lines again because Ayato's got plans later and Reiko's helping Rika with wedding stuff, but you're being an asshole, so maybe I won't."

"Figures you'd ask for a favor by making it seem like you're doing me the favor instead. Maybe I don't wanna read your stupid lines."

"Oh, okay then. I guess I'll just have to watch the new NBA highlights DVD with someone else after."

"Wait a sec, what? Oh, you meant reading lines as in reading lines. I thought you meant something else. C'mon, you know you want me to help." 

"You're so predictable."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, it's a date then." Sometimes, Aomine can't help but wonder if he's the only one blurring the friendzone line. He turns his attention back to his half finished teriyaki burger, but not before catching the faint flush on Kise's face. 

He knows he probably shouldn't, but he grins anyway.

* * *

 

"Say something. I'm giving up on you and you have nothing to say?" Kise asks, his voice eerily quiet with a hopelessness to it that makes Aomine wonder just how much of it is the script and how much is entirely Kise.

Aomine stares at him, blanking his expression on purpose like Kise instructed. It's the third time they've gone over the scene, but something about the way Kise blurts out the words lances through his chest like serrated nostalgia. Suddenly, he's sixteen again: brooding, outwardly indifferent, and watching Kise struggle to get up after a crushing defeat. "Um..."

"Aominecchi, your line is 'There's nothing else someone like me can say to someone like you'. _Moooooh_ , you're not even looking at the script! I thought you wanted to help," he says, his lip jutting out in that familiar pout that makes Aomine want to deck him and make him feel better at the same time. Kise waves around the stack of paper he's holding and jabs his finger at the dialogue like Aomine isn't holding a copy of the damn thing himself. 

"This is lame. Who wrote this shit anyway?" Aomine clamps a hand around his nape and casually tosses the script on the coffee table. He exaggerates a yawn to prove his point. "I wanna nap."

Kise's whine returns and Aomine braces himself for the waterworks. "Bakaaaa! You said you'd help if we watched the highlights first. I did my part; now it's your turn. Ehhhh, I even bought you food!" 

"That's 'cause the last time you tried to make food, you almost burned down the place," Aomine retorts with a chuckle. Kise glares at him for the errant comment and runs his fingers through his hair in that way that makes Aomine's insides flip. The gesture is familiar, something Kise used to do when he's exasperated or upset, both reactions usually because of something Aomine has done. It distracts him now and he chokes back the remainder of the insult.

"You're doing it again. Stop zoning out, Aominecchi." Kise picks up the script and smacks Aomine with it before holding it out, his expression pleading. "Come on! It's already getting late and I feel like we haven't even scratched the surface yet. You'd think, out of all the scenes, this one would be the easiest for us to do what with our history and all." Kise pauses and turns away, muttering something under his breath that Aomine couldn't hear.

"What are you mumbling about now? We've gone through the stupid scene over and over already--"

"But it's not a stupid sce--"

"-- and I'm fucking tired," Aomine says before he plops down on the couch and glowers at Kise's crestfallen expression. "What?"

"It's nothing."

Aomine halts his response and raises a brow. Something about the way Kise says it, the barely audible crack in his voice, the purposeful turn of his back, tells Aomine that something is definitely not "nothing". "Look, if you really wanna go through it again--"

"No, I think I've gone through it enough times. You're right; it is kinda lame. It's getting late anyway," he says, busying himself with picking up the empty food containers on the coffee table. He flashes Aomine the "Kise Ryouta" smile: the blinding, thousand-watt display he usually throws out to fans and media promotions, and Aomine instantly knows he's fucked. 

"Kise--"

"I'm going to bed," Kise says, the media smile making Aomine more than a little uncomfortable. "Early shoot for the scene tomorrow and all. You can stay in the other room if you want."

Aomine suddenly wishes lines in real life came as easily as they did in Kise's scripts.

* * *

 

He ends up staying the night; first in the other room like he normally does, but eventually, he moves to Kise's room (something he's taken to doing whenever he spends the night these days) and lays on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Not touching, never touching, even though he'd be lying right through his teeth if he says he's never thought about it. 

"You awake?"

"No," comes the mumbled response from underneath the pillow, though he knows Kise is just as alert as he is despite the pretense. He half expects Kise to get up and tell him to go, but Kise doesn't.

Aomine sighs. "Yeah, me neither," he says before he drifts off again.

* * *

 

The next morning, Kise is gone again before Aomine wakes. He knows he fucked up, knows that the lines weren't just lines, but something that ties back to the rift in their past, but he is who he is and figures Kise will get over it and everything will go back to how it was. 

* * *

 

Weeks later, Aomine has yet to hear from Kise. He's called a few times, texted here and there, but each one is met with a silence that leaves him unsettled, fractured somehow. He tries to convince himself that it's only because he's gotten used to having Kise around, gotten used to the constant company, but part of him knows better. Then it dawns on him: maybe he's underestimated him; maybe Kise isn't the same Kise anymore. But looking back, Aomine supposes he isn't the same Aomine either. And he can't help but feel that Kise is a large part of the reason why. 

* * *

 

"Dai-chan! Ki-chan just texted me. He said he got permission from the director to let some of his friends watch the show taping," Satsuki says and waves her phone at him in obvious excitement. 

"So?" Aomine is sitting on the couch, magazine in hand, his brows furrowed while he peruses the new article about the "up and coming television star and model, Kise Ryouta". He barely hears Satsuki as he skims the page, gaze halting at the portion where Kise's love life is mentioned. 

 
    
    
    **Interviewer:** So, rumor has it that you've been getting pretty friendly with your main co-star.  
    
      
    
    **Kise:** [laughs] Is that what you heard?  
    
      
    
    **Interviewer:** What can I say? Fans are dying to know if the much-sought-after Kise Ryouta is as unattainable as he seems.  
    
      
    
    **Kise:** I don't know about unattainable. [more laughter] I'm friendly with everyone, though! You know how these rumors start.  
    
      
    
    **Interviewer:** Any truth to them then? Has Kise Ryouta's heart been captured?  
    
      
    
    **Kise:** [small pause before more laughter] Yeah, I guess you can say that. 

 

"Dai-chan, are you listening to me?"

"Huh? Yeah," he says distractedly. "Yeah, I'm listening. What did you say again?"

"You're coming, right? To Ki-chan's taping?" Satsuki's eyes are pleading. Aomine has the sinking feeling he knows why she wants him to come, but she doesn't press that. He's glad, at least, that she knows better. 

"Can't you take someone else with you? Tetsu, maybe?"

"They're all going to be there, though. To support Ki-chan. Don't you want to be there for him?"

"Why should I? He hasn't returned any of my calls, hasn't answered a goddamn text. Besides, I'm busy."

Satsuki stomps her foot and crosses her arms in that exasperated way she does when he's getting on her nerves. "I haven't even told you when it is!"

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"I'm busy."

"You are not. We don't have practice and I told Ki-chan that ahead of time to make sure you couldn't use it as an excuse." She looks at him, her expression challenging him to retort. 

Aomine sighs and drags a hand down his face. "Fine, but I'm leaving as soon as the stupid thing is over."

* * *

 

"It's you. It's always ever just been you." Kise's voice hints at a tremor and he stills, his gazed locked on Yoshiyuki Hatori. Aomine bites back a scoff and suppresses the urge to roll his eyes because, seriously, who  _writes_  these lines? He silently tries to convince himself that it has nothing to do with the fact that the guy playing Kise's love interest has a fan base that could very well rivals the blond's or that in that same moment, a part of him pictured saying the very same thing to Kise. 

_But that's stupid. We're just friends. Or, at least we_ were _._  

"This is dumb," he says before Satsuki shoots him a look that's obviously meant to shut him up. "I'm leaving. You can catch a ride with the others."

"Dai-chan--"

"But all this time, you've said we were just friends, that you couldn't ever-- that I'm just--" Hatori interjects mid-scene. He turns to walk away and Kise grabs his arm, his tone pleading.

But something happens then, something Aomine doesn't expect. Instead of looking at Hatori, Kise's eyes are locked on Aomine; as if to say "don't go", to say "stay with me, please stay with me". Aomine pauses mid-stride, taken aback by the probing gaze. "--friends?" Kise finishes the line and briefly, Aomine remembers the scene when he had been the one Kise had said them to. "I don't want to be just friends."

Aomine knows he should walk now, but suddenly, memories from the past few months hit him like a semi and he's rooted to the spot, watching Kise despite the voice in his head telling him to go. He remembers every instance of Kise's melodic laughter, the way he checks his reflection everywhere he goes, the grin he wears when he wins a game of one-on-one, the way his chest rises and falls when he's fast asleep. 

"But you said--"

"I know, but when it comes down to it, in the lonely hour, I need you."

The director calls "Cut!", but Aomine's already out the door, ignoring Satsuki's protests as he navigates the endless hallways of the studio to find the nearest exit. Once outside, he catches his breath; ragged, barely tempered, though it has nothing to do with how quickly he's escaped. His heart was already hammering long before he had managed to steal away.

"What am I doing? Why the hell did I even come here?" he asks out loud, hoping someone would answer, but knowing it's stupid just the same. He's outside by himself, after all. 

He's halfway across the parking lot when he hears the studio door creak and slam back against the building wall. Footsteps pound behind him, but he keeps walking, hands stuffed inside his pockets to hide the fists he's balled out of frustration. 

"Aominecchi! Wait," Kise calls out. Aomine doesn't know why he stops; his pride has already taken enough damage. But it's Kise and he knows it's useless to fight it. He should have known it was useless from the start.  

Aomine's jaw tightens. "Did you mean it?" 

Kise doesn't answer, not right away. For a long moment, Aomine's gut twists and wrenches, afraid that maybe he misunderstood, that maybe Kise hadn't meant it for him, that he really is just acting, saying lines written by someone else for someone else who isn't and will never be him. He wishes it could be that easy, wishes someone would write his lines for him right at that very moment so he can say what he wants to say instead of standing there in stoned silence like some mute idiot.

"Every word."

Aomine turns, helpless against the pull that Kise has always been; magnetic, electric, something he's doubtless been powerless against, despite his adamant denial. "Then what the hell gives, Kise? You don't pick up your goddamn phone, you don't answer any of my messages. You avoid me like some kind of fucking plague and now this?"

"I'm sorry, Aominecchi." Kise's response is quiet, guarded. "I thought, I don't know, I thought that--"

"That what? 'Cause you could have stopped it. You could have kicked me out of your bed. Hell, out of your apartment. But you didn't. And then it's over. Just like that."

Aomine expects Kise to apologize again, to offer some kind of consolation for breaking him in a way he would never admit to. But instead Kise's eyes blaze like molten gold, his brows pinching together as he sighs in obvious frustration. 

"BAKA AOMINECCHI!" Kise shakes his head and scoffs. "You really are an idiot."

Aomine blinks. "Hah?"

"I thought you'd get it by now; why I asked you to run lines with me, why I insisted we go through the scenes over and over again. It was all a lie, a dumb ruse. Ayato was never too busy to help me. Neither were my sisters. But Momoicchi said I should be patient, said that I needed to give you time to realize what I was trying to say instead of just telling you and scaring you away." Kise sighs again, purses his lips in that way he does when he's lost his patience, and rolls his eyes. "But you kept calling the scenes stupid and I thought, 'if Aominecchi thinks this is stupid, maybe he thinks how I feel is stupid, too'. That's why I didn't want to talk to you; I thought that if I could just stay away for a little while, I can get over it. I can just be your friend."

"Wait, what? That's why you wanted me to run lines with you?"

"Yes! Baka Aominecchi! But you're hopeless. Even with someone else feeding you the lines, you're hopeless."

"What are you trying to say, Kise?"

"I love you, you stupid idiot. I've been in love with you for a long time, even if you've been too dense to see it."

"But the magazine article said--"

"--that someone captured my heart. If you'd read all the way through, you'd have seen who."

Aomine is taken aback, confused by Kise's response. He pulls out the magazine from where he's tucked it inside his jacket lining and flips to the last page of the article. 

 
    
    
    **Interviewer:** You can almost hear the heartbroken cries of fangirls across the globe, Kise-san.  [both laugh] You wouldn't mind telling us who, would you?   
    
      
    
    **Kise:** Not at all. His name is Aomine. Aomine Daiki.

 

He stands there and stares at his name for the longest second of his life. More times than he could count, he's wished that someone else would write his lines for him, that it would be easier if he knew the right things to say, the right way to say them. But as he takes in Kise's expression, takes in the way his eyes search Aomine's face for a sign that he isn't alone in all of it, Aomine decides that he doesn't care if he knows what to say or how to say it. 

He takes a step and then another until he's close enough to taste the air Kise breathes. And then without a word, he closes the gap, the action as natural to him as playing basketball; something he's always been meant to do, something he couldn't stop even if he tried to.

When Kise reciprocates, it's like coming home and Aomine wonders why he ever needed words at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr @ [limitlessmonster](http://limitlessmonster.tumblr.com). :D


End file.
